Indicator for telephones.



No. 648,895. Patented my I, I900. c. r. BLACK. v

INDICATOR FOB TELEPHONES.

(Application filed. Nov. 16, 1899.)

(ilo Modal.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR BAY 5i ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. BLACK, OF GOSHEN, INDIANA.

lNDICATOR Fo'R TELEPHONES;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,895, dated May 1, 1900. A pllosti'in filed November 15,1899. Serial No- 7375059. (No model.)

To mZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. BLACK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident'of the city of Goshe-n, inthe county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have'invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators for Telephones; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which; it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the acc'ompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the drawings is a front elevation of the invention as applied and partly broken away, the'indicator being shown as raised. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the invention partly broken away, the indicator being fallen. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate modified forms of the invention.

This invention is designed to provide a de-- vice of simple and effective character for. use in connection with telephones for the purpose of indicating visually when a call has been received or where two phones are used in the same room to indicate which one; and the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.-

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

.the letter A designates an ordinary telephonewhich is actuated in the usual manner when a call is received, and D is the pivoted hook, which projects from the case and supports the receiver E.

F designates a small case,preferably,though not necessarily, of metal, which is designed to be secured to the front portion of the telephone-case A by means of clamps G or by any other suitable device or devices.

H is an arm or lever which projects from within the case F through a peripheral slot f and whose free outer end portion extends into position to be engaged by the bell-hammer 0 when the latter is actuated. This arm or lever may be arranged in different ways, and Iwill first describe the arrangement shown in Fig. 6. In this figure the portion of the lever within the case is shown as extending loosely through two alined guide loops orprojections h h of the case F, the guide apertures or openings in which are made sufiiciently large to allow of some lateral as well as vertical play of the arm orlever therein.

set, which in the normal position of the lever engages with the upper guide loop or projecjection h, and thereby holds the lever in raised position. The lower end of the lever is offset, as shown at H and is formed with a plate portion, which bears the word Call or other word or sign of similar import. This word or sign when the lever is in normal position is concealed by the front portion of the case F; but when said lever is released from its engagement with the guide It and falls, as presently described, this word or sign is exposed to view through aslot K of the cas ing. ver for the purpose of aiding its own gravity to cause it to fall when released.

M is a resetting arm or lever, one end por tion of which is pivoted Within the casing and passes underneath and in contact with the offset at H, thence out through a slot M in the casing F, and across the front of the casing A to one side of the latter, where it is bent, as indicated at M, to form a handle. This handle may be engaged with the hook D, as shown, so that the movement of the latter when the receiver is removed therefrom will operate the said arm or lever M to automatically reset the arm or lever H.

, The operation is as follows: When a call is received,the movement of the bell-hammer O and its contact with the arm or lever H moves the said arm laterally a sufficient distance to free the engagement of its notch or ofiset H with the loop or guide h, and said arm or lever by the combined action of gravity and of the spring L falls to expose the word Call or other equivalent at the slot K. A person absent from the room at the time the call was received will thus be notitied upon his return of the fact of the call and can ring up the central office or other connection. The word Call remains exposed until the receiver is removed from the hook D, when the upward movement of said book will act upon the arm or lever M to raise the arm or lever II and reengage its At H said lever is formed with a notch or ofi- A spring L may be connected to the lenotch or oflfset H with the guide h. It is obvious, however, that, if preferred, the resetting-lever M maybe arranged to be operated manually independently of the hook D.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a modification wherein in lieu of the lever-guide h the arm or lever II is formed with a vertical slot 71. which is loosely engaged by a pin or stud h of the casing'F.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown another modification wherein in lieu of the arm or lever H, I employ an arm or lever P in the nature of a pendulum, being pivoted in the case F at p. This lever is normally held in perpendicular position by gravity, with its sign concealed,and is actuated to expose said sign by lateral movement caused by the contact of the bell-hammer therewith, as in the form first described. It isheld in this position by means of a dogor catch R, and the latter is released from its engagement by the raising of the resetting arm or lever. v

Fig. 6 show a further modification wherein the arm or lever H is guided by slots 8 s and pins or studs 8 s. The pin or stud s is square and the slot 8 in which it works is L- shaped, its short transverse arm being for the purpose of engaging the, studs 8 to hold the lever in raised position. In this form I have also shown the case as having a peripheral slot T, through which the call-plate falls to expose its sign or signal, this slot being in lieu of the slot h shown in the other described forms.

The device described can be readily attached, to any ordinary telephoneinstrnment and forms a simple and effective device for indicating calls.

Other modifications and changes in detail than those described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination with the casing of a telephone instrument, its alarm-bell, bellhammer-and pivoted receiver-hook, of a movable arm or lever in position to be engaged by the bell-hammer, a sign or visual signal carried thereby, means for normally concealing such sign or signal and for exposing the samewhen the lever isoperated, and means operated by the removal of the receive:- from said hook for returning said arm or lever to normal position after operation, substantially as specified.

2. A device for the purpose described, comprising a slotted casing, a movable arm or lever partly in said casing and partly projecting therefrom, a sign or visual signal carried by the arm or lever within the casing, and a pivoted resetting arm or lever, substantially as specified.

3. A device for the purpose described, consisting of a slotted case, a laterally-movable arm or lever partly in case and partly projecting therefrom, a visual sign or signal carried by said arm or lever within the case, and a pivoted resetting arm or lever, substantially as specified. fl

4. A device for the purpose described, consisting of a slotted case, a laterally and vertically movable lever partly in said case and partly projecting therefrom, a sign or visual signal carried by said arm or lever within the case, means for holding said lever in raised position, a spring for operating said lever when released and means forraising said lever to such position after operation, substantially as specified.

5. A device for the purpose described, consisting of a slotted case, a laterally and vertically movable lever partly in said case and partly projecting therefrom, a sign or visual signal carried by said arm or lever within the case, meansfor holding said lever inraised position and a pivoted resetting arm or lever which engages the first-named arm or lever, and projects from said case, substantially as specified.

6. A device for they purpose described, consisting of a slotted case, a laterally and verticall y movable lever partly in said case and partly projecting therefrom, a sign or visual signal carried by said arm or lever within the case, means for holding said lever in raised position and a pivoted resetting arm or lever which engages the first-named arm or lever and projects from said case and is bent for engagement with the receiving-hook of a telephone instrument, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. BLACK. Witnesses:

J. A... CLARK, OSCAR JAY. 

